DOCTOR WHO Leak Details Behind The Scenes Clashes About Show's Future; New Animated Series In The Works

We have a big Doctor Who update for you today, as a new leak suggests Russell T Davies isn't fully on board with the BBC's potential Disney+ replacement. An animated series is also officially in the works.

News

By JoshWilding - Jun 12, 2025 03:06 PM EST

Filed Under: Doctor Who

Source: SFFGazette.com

Much has been said about Doctor Who's future in recent weeks, but it's looking increasingly likely that Disney won't be stepping back into the TARDIS. The House of Mouse's partnership with the BBC was meant to make the sci-fi series mainstream; instead, ratings have continued to decline, and reviews for the latest revival were mixed.

Showrunner Russell T Davies' return to Doctor Who ultimately wasn't the win that most fans expected. Ncuti Gatwa has left the show after two seasons, and season 3 still hasn't been announced, despite a cliffhanger ending that saw the Time Lord regenerate into Billie Piper.

According to a reliable source for Doctor Who leaks (via SFFGazette.com), the BBC is currently in advanced talks with a potential new partner following the collapse of the Disney+ deal. It's said that this unnamed partner wants greater creative control and for the series to "take itself more seriously." In doing so, it would shift its focus to an older teenage audience, not the under-12 demographic.

Davies strongly opposes the idea and wishes to continue the same fun, campy, child/family-friendly tone that he sees as the key to Doctor Who's decades-long success.

While the BBC is backing Davies' vision for Doctor Who (he reportedly wants to stick around for at least three more seasons), the broadcaster needs a major financial partner and could ultimately be swayed by them pushing for new creatives to get involved. Davies is protective of who works on the show, but may find himself with less creative control on that front.

If a deal can't be made, it seems Doctor Who will either get a shortened season—4 or 6 episodes instead of 8, perhaps—or annual specials, cutting costs in the process. Love or hate his approach to the Whoniverse, it does sound like Davies is doing all he can to make sure the series survives.

On a more positive note, the BBC has signalled it's not giving up on Doctor Who by announcing a new animated series for the pre-school CBeebies channel in the UK. The show will follow the Doctor as he solves mysteries and problems alongside their companions and other friends, facing one or two challenges on their way.

Discussing plans for the BBC to find a "passionate production company" to produce the series at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Patricia Hidalgo, Director of Children's and Education programming, said, "Everyone is welcome at CBeebies, including the Doctor. This much-loved franchise entertains millions around the world, so it is only right that our younger audience get to experience the wonder and the magic of the Doctor in a brand new format."

"This is an extremely exciting opportunity, and we are looking forward to welcoming companies to pitch for this new project, as we continue our commitment and investment in the UK’s animation industry," she added.

This feels like a way to get kids hooked on Doctor Who from as early as possible, and it's not a bad idea given the problems outlined above. It's likely still a long way off, anyway, and there's no word on who will portray the Time Lord.

RUMOR: DOCTOR WHO Deal Is Dead At Disney But There May Still Be Hope For The Series To Return

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28 Comments

DocSpock - 6/12/2025, 3:46 PM

You don't need to make a stupid cartoon of this.

The whole last season of the show already did that.

grif - 6/12/2025, 4:41 PM

@DocSpock - im really surprised there has not been one for a long time now.

DocSpock - 6/12/2025, 5:21 PM

@grif -

Me too. It probably would have been a lot better than what they did to this show in this last disastrous season.

EskimoJ - 6/12/2025, 4:21 PM

This show's for 12 year olds (and younger)?

No wonder folks here have such a strong opinion on it.

Apophis71 - 6/12/2025, 7:37 PM

@EskimoJ - That was always the initial primary target (or at least under 15 anyway) when first concieved with less of the scary robots. That was why they started with a wise old Grandpa type Doctor with a mid teen primary companion (percieved as at most 15 even tho the actor was 23)...

...Head of drama Sydney Newman in the 60's literaly said no robots and then the shows first producer Verity Lambert went with the Daleks as the second story for the show he almost sacked her on the spot as he inteded it to be more on the teaching and getting young kids interested in history, less on fantasy elements common in SciFi...

...but always with the intent the drama aspect would appeal to all ages such that you could have three generations of the family sat watching it together.

The addition to lore of switching Doctor mostly every three years and companion mostly every year pushed forward the concept they would use it to help make the show always feel fresh and current by hitting on topics of the era.

Doing all of that, keeping the ballance on point is never easy and in more divisive times (whatever anyones stance on anything is that become hot topics) that difficulty in doing so and maintaining broad appeal increases cos these days it is hard not to piss one side off or the other.

TheVisionary25 - 6/12/2025, 4:28 PM

Doctor Who like any long running series has its ebbs & flows , especially in regards to tone where it’s had its darker eras or stories aswell as lighter ones so this idea that the show needs to “take itself more seriously” is bollocks since the show’s tone is fine imo as it is.

Also no more episode cuts please , keep it 8 episodes if you aren’t gonna up the order atleast!!.

Anyway glad to hear about the animated show , obviously I’m not the target audience so I don’t particularly have any interest in it but it shows that BBC atleast still wants to keep the franchise around which is good.

Apophis71 - 6/12/2025, 7:45 PM

@TheVisionary25 - I don't mind the idea of the odd three episode special covering one story but yeh, for a proper season of standalone stories 8 already feels too short esp if they keep going with the trend of max three years per Doctor that has been the trend ever since the end of the Tom Baker (4th) era.

I do miss the old days where as season would have most stories over two or three episodes, but there would be multiple of those per season as sometimes you want at least two parters even if most are contained within a single episode.

Think one issue that got out of hand is overdoing the season arc stuff, started with the whole Bad Wold storyling with Eccleston but in that it was only easter eggs of seeing the term everywhere not trying to tie multiple episodes to it over the course of a season as restricts creative freedom that way.

AC1 - 6/13/2025, 1:57 AM

@TheVisionary25 - Tbh I actually kinda agree with the idea that it should take itself more seriously. Not in the sense that it needs to become some gritty drama or anything like that, but just in the sense that a lot of the narrative quality seems to have been sacrificed in recent years in favour of gimmicks and nonsense.

As a lifelong fan, it's a shame that the truly enjoyable elements of Doctor Who are now so equal with the terrible ones. It used to be the case, even in the post-revival era, that the badly written ridiculous episodes were anomalies in otherwise good seasons of the show, like Love & Monsters. Now they seem to comprise almost half of the episodes per season. There are still some great episodes, don't get me wrong, but not enough, especially considering the reduced episode count which SHOULD result in more narrative focus and an overall improvement of writing quality. Instead, we get creepy talking Space Babies and singing Christmas goblins and a new origin story for The Doctor that pretty much no one wanted, and "mavity" and "bigeneration" and giant zombie Omega - and it sucks that that also then had a negative impact on the perceptions of actors like Jodie and Ncuti in the role when they had the potential to be so much better.

AllsNotGood - 6/12/2025, 4:46 PM

They are going after children

gmit92 - 6/12/2025, 6:51 PM

@AllsNotGood - well…yes, that is the target audience of the *ahem* children’s network known as CBeebies.

It would be odd of them to pursue something that isn’t their brand focus, but I’m sure you’d have a long tenure as CEO there with smart decisions like abandoning their entire mission statement :)

TheVisionary25 - 6/12/2025, 4:49 PM

Man , I’m still so bummed about Ncuti leaving…

I wasn’t even this bummed when Matt Smith whose my favorite left because I felt satisfied with his run while Ncuti’s feels premature and it’s likely because it was due to external factors such as his profile rising and the show’s fate being up in the air so he couldn’t wait for it to continue or not.

In a perfect world , he would have atleast stuck around for another series to wrap up the Susan stuff since we know the original ending had the characters at a party after saving the world with Susan watching from a far with Poppy , not to mention other loose threads such as “ The Boss” , Rogue etc.

1stDalek - 6/12/2025, 8:16 PM

@TheVisionary25 - It sucks that we've officially gotten a Colin Baker case in NuWho, hopefully the trend doesn't continue like it did back then. The show's picking up, the lead actor has found their groove, companions are doing great, and then it just ends abruptly in a shitty finale plagued by rewrites and BTS scrambling. At least he got his regeneration scene and we don't have to worry about Billie Piper in a wig in the next premier. lol

TheVisionary25 - 6/12/2025, 8:50 PM

@1stDalek - that’s true lol

I think it was a decent finale to an extent but the rewrites and scrambling did hinder it to an extent sadly (Belinda’s resolution..yikes).

Yeah it’s just unfortunate because S15 was better then 14 but the finale just made me sad by the end and not in a good way

Spike101 - 6/12/2025, 5:01 PM

How much more damage can they do to this once great series? It’s original audience of which I was part of was families which most of us young kids hiding behind the sofa when the Daleks or Cybermen appeared. Best seen in black and white with Patrick Troughton as the Doctor.

Sc00tersays - 6/12/2025, 5:03 PM

That Disney produced this show for kids under 12 tells you everything you need to know about Disney

Apophis71 - 6/12/2025, 7:47 PM

@Sc00tersays - Disney didn't produce it at all, they injected cash for the rights to stream it only and had zero creative control but the series was ALWAYS primarily targeted towards younger audiences, certainly under 15's, but within the idea of putting enough there for ALL ages to enjoy.

Sc00tersays - 6/13/2025, 10:05 AM

@Apophis71 - That anyone would think the last two seasons are for kids under 12 tells you everything you need to know about those people

PapaBear562 - 6/12/2025, 5:08 PM

Please, please, let it die..............

Kurban - 6/12/2025, 5:23 PM

Should have ended years ago.

Corruptor - 6/12/2025, 5:51 PM

Will the animated version for pre-schoolers also be gay?

gmit92 - 6/12/2025, 6:48 PM

@Corruptor - I mean, my preschooler doesn’t seem to care that I’m gay. Nor do their friends. It just seems to be some of the parents that have a bloody meltdown over it. Friends of yours?

Corruptor - 6/12/2025, 8:54 PM

@gmit92 - Ah, a strawman right there.

1stDalek - 6/12/2025, 8:12 PM

Doctor Who has succeeded in more serious directions before, but I don't think it's held that tone consistently for long periods. Wiles, Hinchcliffe and Cartmel are the 3 men in charge that have done it and rather successfully too! Wiles resigned when the BBC and Harnetll resisted the tone change, Hinchcliffe bowed out after 3 fantastic seasons and Cartmel had the show canceled on his head after revitalizing it.

NuWho just hasn't tried it yet, with all 3 showrunners preferring to have a balanced mix of fun and serious stories. I really doubt we'll ever get a downer ending as bad as The Massacre got us, so I'm not sure what BBC's partner really wants, like the Eurovision episode may have a silly premise and cameos, but that was a very heavy tone and subject matter.

1stDalek - 6/12/2025, 8:12 PM

Fun fact: John Wiles is the man that first suggested recasting Harnell way back in early Season 3 to major backlash from his superiors, before they went on and did it in early Season 4.

maxx - 6/12/2025, 8:20 PM

I feel like they can do both serious and for kids and adults at the same time. Moffat walked that line well, though admittedly Smiths take appealed to younger audiences.

Ncuti’s run was doomed from the get go because of the on the nose RTD writing. You can’t shame a large portion of your audience for imaginary wrongdoings and jam social justice down their throats every other episode (sometimes every episode) and expect people to keep tuning in. This isn’t my opinion this is factually what he did.

That said, he’s still a brilliant storyteller and can easily turn things around. I’m not sure if he’s able to admit he needs to reign that shit back in, but if he can, Amazon or another streaming service would be lucky to get this IP.

1stDalek - 6/12/2025, 8:29 PM

I'm curious about the animated show! It's not for me, but I have young cousins that could enjoy it. I HOPE it's different stories with different Doctor's so you get a little of everyone, more diversity of stories (since each Doctor & companion combo handle things their own way) and availability for the busier NuWho actors becomes less of an issue.

Great place to highlight Paul McGann, Colin Baker, & Chris Eccleston to compensate for their shorter tv runs, and in the case of the later two help show them with a brighter demeanor in contrast to their pricklier attitudes on the screen.

1stDalek - 6/12/2025, 8:36 PM

If I'm making the show I'd pick Silverster McCoy as the main Doctor, because 1) Tom Baker is very old now & sadly can't count on him carrying such a show, 2) he's a comedic children's actor at heart, and 3) his dyanmics with Langford and Aldred can easily translate to the new show & are vastly different. McCoy can anchor it and be the lead that's consistent while other actors come in as possible.

Apophis71 - 6/13/2025, 8:13 AM

@1stDalek - Dunno the plan but I always said it could be a good idea to do animated stories with all prior Doctors. In some cases they could redo original TV episodes, cleaning up any flaws in the process for the first few Doctors but also there is SO many audioplays and books for all of them that could be used as a basis for animated adaptions.

As such could easily do for instance 8 to 10 episode run with one episode each for the first 8 Doctors (plus maybe Jo Martin's Timeless child version) plus maybe a crossover of some sort for the finale featuring multiple Doctors and/or with the current live action one.

If it worked they could then extend to doing a season for each of the 8 (or 9) and add interested into watching classic Who episodes online.

Why classic's? Cos classic Who more consistantly worked better I feel for the younger demographics and as I say adds interest to iplayer episodes that likely don't get as many views as newWho which from the start seemed to try to be more consistantly for teens thru adults, less for under 12's as demonstrated by the R rated Torchwood spinoff.

It would also be harder for the anti-woke crowd to auto hate on classic Who adaptions IF they stayed true to the sort of tone and kid friendly story types they were generaly known for outside the hide behind the sofa eps.

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DOCTOR WHO Leak Details Behind The Scenes Clashes About Show's Future; New Animated Series In The Works

We have a big Doctor Who update for you today, as a new leak suggests Russell T Davies isn't fully on board with the BBC's potential Disney+ replacement. An animated series is also officially in the works.

RUMOR: DOCTOR WHO Deal Is "Dead" At Disney But There May Still Be Hope For The Series To Return

DOCTOR WHO Season 2's Ending Before Reshoots Added Billie Piper As "The Doctor" Has Been Revealed - SPOILERS

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.